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Photo: Giannis Papaioannou When The Republic of Baklava , receiver of the First Audience Award at the Athens Epidaurus Festival, arrived in Istanbul in 2023 as part of the IKSV Theatre Festival, it was hailed as a "pioneer of a new generation of Greek theater." Upon seeing it myself, I was left in awe by the text’s sharp wit, its mature humor, the innovative nature of its staging, and the chemistry among a cast of actors who were, individually and collectively, a sheer delight to watch. At the heart of The Republic of Baklava lies a Turkish-Greek couple who decide to establish their own nation-state, utilizing their home and workplace as its centre. Presented as a mockumentary set against a fictional backdrop, the piece features "researchers" who take the stage to, in a sense, reconstruct the history, conflicts, and legacy of this tiny nation. Commissioned to mark the bicentennial of Greece’s independence in 1821, the play chooses to poke fun at the weight of histo...

© Johanna Weber What is the essence of theatre in your opinion? The fundamental nucleus of the theatre is the process of transformation, the constant change, as well as the search for our other self and the collectivity. But above all, the essence of theatre is the development of a nucleus. This nucleus can be an ever-bleeding wound; a wound in a psychological, ontological and transcendental dimension. Do you believe in the transformative power of art? How? Of course, I believe in the concept of transformation. Heraclitus says «τα πάντα ρει», meaning that "everything flows", the sun is new every day. everything changes, transforms, even though we may think that we remain the same. Change, transformation, rebirth, renaissance. How can this be succeeded? Keeping all senses alert, being awaken, showing empathy; maintaining the ability to listen, to see, to feel the Other, the different, to let the Other transform and change us. When you are working on a piece, what sources inspi...

©Bart Dewaele What is the essence of theatre in your opinion? If there is such a thing, probably it lies in people being together, exchanging thoughts and images, challenging ideas and practicing new & other ways of looking at the world. A place to briefly escape, and experience the world in a different way. Do you believe in the transformative power of art? How? Yes, and no. No, because it would be silly to think theatre can change the world. However, people will. And those people can visit a theatre building. So theatre for us is one way - among many others - to pull at the fabric of collective consciousness. To interact with the way people look at and interpret the world around them. So step by step, yes. When you are working on a piece, what sources inspire you? The main source of inspiration is the people we talked to during our research, and the conversations we had. Apart from that we don’t really watch a lot of other shows or films, or visit exhibitions while we are working...

The New Text Festival, organized by GalataPerform since 2012 and which is the first playwriting festival in Turkey, was held for the 11th time this year. The theme of the festival, which met the audience between November 26 and December 4, 2022, was “Fear”. Fredrik Brattberg, from Norway, was the first guest of our conversations with the playwrights whose plays were translated into Turkish and performed as a staged reading. The New Text Festival, which has an important place in the field of theater in Turkey by increasing the visibility of new contemporary writers and introducing them to the performing arts sector, had a new section titled Nordic Focus , this year. Fredrik Brattberg, whose play Cantus was performed as staged reading, was among the participants of this section, which was supported by the Danish Embassy, the Danish Cultural Institute, the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Danish Ministry of Culture, the Danish Consulate, the Swedish Consulate General, the Swedish ...

Organized by GalataPerform and being the first playwriting festival in Turkey, the New Text Festival was held for the tenth time this year between November 1st and 28th, 2021, with a hybrid structure focused on the theme of "Breath", both in the physical space and digitally. We hosted Joan Yago in the last of our conversations with international playwrights whose plays were translated into Turkish and staged and read at the festival. Ayşe Draz & Mehmet Kerem Özel What is the essence of good play/playwriting in your opinion?   Wow, I am not sure at all. But it probably has something to do with the fact of knowing what do you want to do to the audience, what do you want to happen to them, and then work hard thru your writing until make sure that this is working in the way you want. Do you believe in the transformative power of art? How? I want to believe. Otherwise why would I keep doing that? I know that theatre has the power of “lighting the spark”: a show can make you do...

© Natalia Jabanow Kunstenfestivaldesarts, which was founded in 1994 by Frie Leysen (one of Belgium's most important cultural figures who unfortunately died last year), focuses on contemporary theater, performance and dance, and also includes cinema and visual arts. The festival takes place in Brussels every year in May. However, especially for this year, an additional week was added to the festival in July. When the program was announced, all of the indoor performances in May would be staged face-to-face and a selection of them would be streamed live online. Due to the course of the pandemic, all the indoor performances in May were canceled and only online streams of live or recorded performances were left in the program. Outdoor shows and visual art exhibitions take place under Covid-19 measures as planned. Thanks to the online program that removes physical borders, I had the opportunity to follow the festival. Pieces of a Woman The first of the online streams was Pieces of a Woma...

© jan versweyveld  nowadays, a presidential election evening. it's just over an hour and a half before the results are announced. the politician who is highly expected to win the election comes together with his family for a dinner in the conference hall being temporarily transformed to the campaign center. the politician is understanding and loving towards his family, and ambitious, honest, and confident. he also believes in transparency so that he will permit the investigation into the cause of death of his predecessor when he is elected. while the excitement of the results of the election is being experienced, the facts about the politician's past remaining hidden even from himself are revealed one by one. when the election countdown is over, at the peak of the tension, the moment when it is announced that the politician has won the election and the moment when he realizes the hardest truth about his past coincide. the politician's name is oedipus. yes, king oedipus, the...

Theatre Altıdan Sonra Tiyatro (live broadcast every wednesday and saturday between 8.30-10pm [gtm+3] - in turkish) Andrew Lloyd Webber   (a musical every friday for 48 hours - in english) Ant Hampton   (performances from the archive - in english) Belarus Free Theatre   (p erformances from the archive  - every play for a certain period of time as stated on the website - in russian, some with english subtitles) Berliner Ensemble   (a play every friday for one week -  in german ) Berliner Festspiele   (six of the 10 plays invited to Berliner Theatertreffen 2020 between 1st-8th may - in german) BGST ( Karşılaşmalar  - in turkish) Burgtheater Wien   (a play every wednesday and friday for 24 hours - in german) Bühnenwelt ( a wide selection of plays - in german) Cheek by Jowl   (p erformances from the archive  -  every play for a certain period of time as stated on the website - in english ) Comédie de Caen...